Sweet Betrayal
by Golden Mist Fox
Summary: Natsume, what would become of you if your precious family and friends betray you and were repulsed by your very own presence? Warning: Dark!Natsume fic and possible character deaths. Please R
1. Chapter 1: Fitting Enemy

Life had never been this pleasant for him, for someone who barely had the chance to feel those elusive strands called 'acceptance'. All the years of pain and exclusion he had endured all in silence and loneliness. And now he had finally find where he belonged in the care of loving family and friends.

He was content.

But... what would become of him if all of it was ripped away from his possession?

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**Sweet Betrayal**

**Chapter 1: Fitting Enemy**

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Tanuma strode along the bustling hallway of the school, a small smile lifted the corner of his lips, and a box of 'Inary' goddess small statue was tucked among the spaces of his crossed arms. His pace was light-hearted, full of leisure, and yet still brisk with barely contained giddiness. If he was attempting to mask that feeling of exuberance, then he was doing a great work as the dark-haired boy looked as composed as his calm-self normally would.

He had just returned from a long trip with his father, a work-trip to exorcise some rebellious ayakashi executing minor havoc in the Kyoto region. His father asked him to tag along in order to further deepen his exorcism skills. Although he needed to bail a few days off even after the end of their semester holiday, he agreed to it as he was tempted with the idea of being closer to the ayakashi world.

_But he knew fully well that it wasn't the sole reason_, Tanuma's eyes brightened as he saw the familiar class of his destination_, as it all lied within one name_.

The person who shared the same burden, if not heavier, as him. Being the target of weird stares directed at him for most of his younger days, the victim of hushed whispers behind his back, and being labelled as 'freak' as one of the more daring kids would address him of.

He had shutted his heart then.

But after a fateful meeting with this somehow ordinary yet quirky boy, Tanuma had learned to accept his difference. That it was a gift, to be able to 'feel' whereas other people couldn't.

That one golden-eyed boy had worked magic to his self-imposed principle to block off people out of his world.

He had brought sunlight to his storm-filled heart, filling the cold-vessel with warmness like in the arms of a loving and caring mother.

That amazing person was normally called-

"Natsume!", Tanuma exclaimed at the door of the half-empty class with enthusiasm, the box of souvenir in his arms jiggled slightly. His shining eyes, giddy with the idea of meeting the said boy after such a long holiday, immediately flicked to Natsume's seat which was located by the window.

But found no sign of the sandy-haired boy as it was empty.

Frowning slightly, he lifted his eyes to find that the members of their 'club' were staring at him wide-eyed. He approached the familiar faces including Taki, Sasada, Kitamoto, and Nishimura which were all gathering around the empty seat of Natsume.

"Oh, uh hi Tanuma! Long time no see!", Nishimura greeted him with a smile, but Tanuma could easily see the fakeness of it.

"How was your holiday to Kyoto, Tanuma-kun?", Taki added with a smaller voice than usual, he also noticed the lack of her cheery attitude she normally carried.

Tanuma lifted a brow in confusion, "It's fine I... guess..."

Something told him that there was a sort of 'dodging-a-topic' kind of aura here, he felt that there was something big that they were hiding from him. Whatever it was, he was going to find out. Starting with the most obvious clue, "Where is Natsume?"

Almost as if on cue, the atmosphere changed with that one question, a heavy gloomy silence blanketed the four people being asked as they all avoided eye-contact with him. Taki lowered her head to gaze at her shoes, Sasada gripped the hem of her skirt and bit the corner of her lips with a scrunched-up expression, and both boys closed their eyes in remorse.

A pang suddenly stroke the cord of Tanuma's heart.

"I-Is he sick?"

A shake of a head was his answer.

"Is he skipping school?"

"Somehow..."

"Somehow?"

Taki finally met his eyes, "Tanuma-kun, we've been trying to contact you this past few days but... none of us have your number. Only Natsume-kun has. And unfortunately, Touko-san didn't allow us to borrow Natsume-kun's mobile phone because... uh..."

The girl's voice was shaking slightly as well as her small body. And why did she look at him with a guilty-like expression?

"Because? And why did you need to borrow Natsume's mobile to contact me while you could ask him yourselves?"

Again it was silence that answered his question. Tanuma, despite his self-reassurance, couldn't help but felt his heart beat faster. Cold perspiration was beginning to form at his temples as he stared wide-eyed to the gathering crowd, feeling a bit queasy at this point.

He was about to open his mouth to launch yet another critical question when someone beat him to it.

"I'm sorry Tanuma-kun..."

His eyes automatically focused on the source of the voice, recognizing it instantly, "Sasada?"

The motionless girl still had her back to him but he could see the barely-contained shaking that wrecked at her tiny body.

"Natsume-kun...", she whispered nearly inaudibly, turning her head to look at Tanuma's worried face. And as she finally turned to him, the dark-haired teen was surprised to see the tears glistening down on the sorrowful girl's face, adding more to the apprehension that had clenched his heart so painfully.

"Natsume-kun... Natsume is gone..."

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"Nat. Su. Me~!", a sing-song voiced exclaimed cheerfully, hooking the attention of a sandy-haired boy instantly as he turned his head over his shoulder.

The said boy was in a leisure walk with Nyanko-sensei in a nice sunny day of his long-awaited holiday, not in the very least expecting that he would run into his friends in this private chance.

"Nishimura? A-", Natsume only had the time to say that one name before he was glomped from behind. Nyanko yelped in surprise as he lost his balance on Natsume's head and collided with the ground, face first.

Nishimura grinned at him as Kitamoto, Sasada, Taki approached behind him in a rushed pace, "Where are you going Natsume? Why didn't you tell us if you are going out?", the ever cheerful boy asked on Natsume's shoulder.

"Huh?", Natsume wiggled slightly, he was not used to being in a close contact with anyone, but apparently Nishimura chose to be ignorant at the boy's discomfort, "I'm just going on a walk with Nya- my cat. And why do I need to inform you of that?"

"Because Natsume-chan, we're all planning to visit your house and if you're not at home then it becomes sort of pointless don't ya think?", Nishimura pointed out confidently, proud at his 'smart' analysis.

The rest of the gang finally catched up on the two teens, panting slightly, "Ha.. Ha.. Ha.. Yo-you don't need to dash like that as if you spot a hot chick Nishimura, now we're beat because of you!", Kitamoto jabbed a finger at his friend accusingly.

Taki sweatdropped, "Well it's not a proper reason for rushing like that too"

"Huh? Hot chick?", Nishimura grinned, "If you're talking about hot, Natsume-chan here can be counted as one too, right? Although he is more into the cute type. Ne~ Natsume?", Nishimura winked his eye suggestively.

Natsume couldn't help but blushed as he shrugged off Nishimura's arms in a rush, "Wha-what's that supposed to mean? And why do you guys want to visit my house anyway?"

Sasada suddenly was in front of Natsume and her narrowed eyes glared at the golden-eyed teen accusingly, "Don't tell me that you forget about today, Natsume-kun?"

"Today?", Natsume cocked his head to the side. He tried to go through his brain about the particular information but sadly nothing came up.

Taki also crossed her arms accusingly, "Today is the agreed date for us to investigate the haunted spot in the woods! Don't you remember?"

A lightbulb suddenly appeared above Natsume's head as his eyes widened in realization. Yes, this was apparently the date that they, the 'Supernatural Seeker' club had agreed on to start their project of 'ayakashi' investigation, "Ah yes... Now that you mention it, we do have some schedule for that... Sorry for forgetting. So when will we start?"

"At 2 o'clock", Kitamoto answered, "We're planning to discuss about that first before commencing on the investigation. The former plan was to do it at your house but since you're not there and we're closer to Taki's house, then I think it's better to do it there"

"Ah sou...", Natsume blinked, "Well I think I'll ask Touko-san's permission first. I also forget to bring my mobile", the boy stated sheepishly, "You can go on first"

Nishimura shook his head mockingly, "Ah you and your mama boy's nature. Well come on then!", the boy hooked Natsume's arm and then proceeded to drag him to the direction where they first came from.

Natsume stumbled, "Eh don't worry about me! You should just go on first, I'll join you later", he urged the group with a smile.

Kitamoto shrugged, "Well, guess that's fine for me, but you'd better hurry Natsume!", he warned.

Not long after, Natsume was standing alone in the quiet road with a twitching neko's legs sticking up the air. The golden-haired boy glanced at the butaneko before sighing, he approached the motionless body before bending down and pulled the neko by one of its fat paws.

"Come on sensei, I need to go back to tell Touko-san that I'll be returning late"

The seemingly lifeless cat suddenly twitched before jumping out of the boy's clutches and landed on the ground gracefully. He rustled his short fur briefly and specks of dust flew out.

Nyanko then looked at the boy reprimandingly, "Hey Natsume! Why do you agree to have that worthless investigation with your friends? Don't say that you forget the ayakashi celebration tonight!"

Natsume widened his eyes and his jaws comically dropped down, "Aaah! That!"

Nyanko narrowed his black beady eyes at the dumbfounded boy. "You forget, don't you"

It was a statement.

When no retaliation could be heard, he shook his furry head. Sometimes his human confused him. Humans had far shorter lifespan than ayakashi but despite their brief time in existence, they tend to forget even the simplest and most recent matters. Whereas ayakashi could still remember even a hundred years worth memory. Humans were definitely still mysteries for him.

"I wanna drink some good fill of sake no matter what so I-", Nyanko stood on his hind legs and pointed one blunt claw at the standing teen, "-forbid you to join your human friends in what-it's-name club's stupid activity! No questions!", the fat cat huffed, seeming proud of his commanding performance, as he waited for an answer while posing.

But none came as the boy was already walking ahead. Nyanko blinked his eyes, confused for a second at the fact that he could only see his human's back in a quite distance ahead before a vein popped on top of his grey-orange forehead.

"Hey Natsume! Now you dare to ignore me, the GREAT MADARA? I could devour you in one gulp you stupid idiotic insufferable human BO-

"NYANKO-SENSEI! Ssssh! Not so loud! There's a lot-

Unbeknown to them, a pair of glowing emerald orbs peered under the safety of the bushes, following their every moves stealthily, surreptitiously. No not them, _Natsume_. Their scrutinizing glare narrowed in absolute loathing as the ayakashi witnessed the interaction between the human boy and his human friends.

_Disdainful _

The matching pair of eyes also narrowed in pure blaze of envy as the human and his ayakashi keeper argued heatedly and bickered quite a commotion in the nearly empty street. Claws digged on the soil where the root of the bush looped in, as the ayakashi gritted its strong jaws in malevolence.

Arguing, but not even the slightest sign of malicious intent could its sharp sense of smell detect from their scent. Quarreling, but completely were at ease with each other, casting aside their difference in nature and race to interact casually and intimately.

_Scornful_

How this human could relate to both humans and ayakashi was beyond its comprehension. How... can this little human, the grandson of Natsume Reiko whom failed to befriend both kinds, be accepted in human's as well as ayakashi's world.

_Unforgivable_

"**Natsume Takashi..."**, it hissed in maliciousness, **"I would definitely not accept this. You, a mere human, could prevail to win both human's and ayakashi's acceptance. Both which belong to absolute opposite of worlds"**

"**I will see to it, that all of that revolting _connection _you manage to flourish all this years, be stripped and ripped to oblivion in front of your very own eyes, eradicated and nullified to nothingness until none remains..."**

The ayakashi retreated back to the darkness as the blazing green orbs gradually vanished under the thick shadows of the trees.

"**This Tamamo-no-Mae will see to it"**

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~Golden Mist Fox


	2. Chapter 2: Disturbances

Sometimes a small error can give birth to a calamitous disaster. And sometimes even when we stand guard for the best of our abillities, a small slip is still inevitable, it just happens and there is nothing we can do to cease its powerful aggression.

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**Sweet Betrayal**

**Chapter 2: Disturbances**

"Aah~", Nishimura moaned, his eyes were following the retreating figure of a middle-aged man carrying a bundle of files in his arms until the hunched form disappeared beyond the classroom's door. He then slammed his head to his desk, "At last! That killer-disguised-teacher is finally out of the classroom!"

The bell rang, signaling the beginning of their long-awaited first recess, much to Nishimura's greatest relief.

Kitamoto and Natsume approached the desk of their exhausted friend. Both supported matching scowls, although the golden-eyed boy was much less so.

"Damn, I hate math!", Nishimura complained once again. His voice was a bit muffled but both boys heard him just fine, "Why did the first period have to be Math out of all subjects in the first day of school! My head is killing me!", Nishimura whined once again.

Kitamoto sighed, "You know, normally I won't be siding with you because Math is one of my favourite subjects", The boy massaged his temple, "But today's bit is quite meaningless, not to mention boring~"

"For God's sake, we've been over that material already!", Kitamoto exclaimed while hugging his slumped friend in mock understanding gesture. Natsume, meanwhile, only stood there to gaze at his friends' silly antics with tired amusement.

"Kitamoto! You sure understand my feelings~!"

"Nishimura!"

"Kitamoto!"

"Nishimu-

"GAH! Cut it out already!", a feminine voice shrieked in fury. All three boys glanced to the source of the unpatient voice, finding Sasada glaring at them with her hands accusingly on her hips.

"Instead of wallowing in your own self-pity, I suggest we all get moving to discuss our supernatural investigation project because the report surely isn't going to finish itself!", the bespectacled girl huffed, the corner of her glasses twinkled professionally.

Kitamoto and Nishimura both looked at her with half-lidded lazy eyes, "Hai Ms. President!"

The girl gave a satisfied sound, seemingly proud at being addressed with the new appellation.

"Ara?", Sasada then looked around, "Where's Taki and Tanuma-kun?"

"Taki is probably still in her class while Tanuma is still on a trip with his father", Kitamoto explained half-heartedly.

"Oooh, such a shame though, he only managed to join the discussion only once on the day of our club reformation right?"

While the members of the Supernatural Seeker club chatted among each other, Natsume used the chance to excuse himself to the bathroom. Like Nishimura, Math wasn't his strong card, thus, the intense lecture he received while his brain was still in its semi-comatose state from the long holiday caused his very head to throb and reel like crazy.

He needed to cool his head.

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The sound of running faucet echoed on the hollow light-green walls before pale fingers reached out and twisted the tab, stopping the course of the flowing clear liquid with a nice squeaky sound.

Natsume sighed in bliss, lifting his head as his golden eyes caught his reflection on the mirror. Droplets of water trickled down his bangs and chin, he noticed with subtle satisfaction that his formerly dead beat face now looked much refreshed.

'Now time to go back to class. I need to hurry to discuss the investigation with the others', the fair-skinned boy told himself mentally.

As he turned his body to leave, his body halted in surprise at seeing a figure blocking the entrance to the toilet. Natsume's golden eyes widened in a fraction of second before he proceded to chance a good look to the silent figure. A female student with straight jet black hair stood there and was smiling warmly to him.

Natsume was entranced for a second by the girl's beauty before his attention drifted to a heavily-intricated bundle the girl timidly hugged around her stomach.

Natsume didn't know whether he should greet her or not because the girl, although looked fairly normal but also seemed suspicious in his eyes. It was probably that strange vibe you got out of instinct at a certain situation from your own personal abnormal experiences. He didn't need a reason, he just could feel it.

"Sorry, did I surprise you?", the girl greeted with a sweet smile.

Natsume forced himself to return the smile although he was greatly unsettled by the girl's deep seemingly endless black eyes, "Ah yes actually. This is a male toilet after all. I didn't expect to see a girl here", he lied. It's true that for normal people to see a respectable female student leisurely standing in front of a male toilet is a bit uncanny, if not thoroughly offensive. Yet we all know that Natsume wasn't exactly normal.

"Ah sorry! I'm just going to be here for a little while", the girl stated sheppishly, "Natsume-kun right?

Natsume, although feeling like he should just walk past the girl back to his class, hesitantly gave a little nod.

"Um yes, I am. And you are...?"

The nameless girl's eyes seemed to brighten at the fact that she got the right person, "Maeda Tamamozuki, bu-but if Natsume-kun feels like it... you can call me Tama", the female student's eyes drifted downwards as a blush spreaded over her cheeks.

Natsume quirked a brow in confusion at seeing the girl's reddening face.

"Um, Natsume-kun, if you don't mind would you come with me to the back of the school? I ha-have something to tell you", Tama whispered while fiddling nervously with the hem of the bundle.

Natsume blinked. Okay, there went the fabulous plan of discussing the investigation with his friends. But looking on the bright side, maybe his previous assumption of the girl's identity was wrong after all. If she was an ayakashi then there was no point in leading him first to somewhere. Following the typical script, ayakashi always popped in out of nowhere and demanded him to hand over the Yuujinchou right then and there. Seeing the girl hadn't even mentioned the said book even once... Plus the girl was clearly a student from his school seeing that she wore the designated female sailor uniform.

With that in mind, Natsume ignored his paranoid instuition and followed the girl to right where she wanted him to be.

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A blue jay swiftly glided on the air and flapped its small wings once as it perched on a dewy twig. It tilted its head in wonder as its beady black eyes caught on two humans walking leisurely on the normally vacant ground across its tree. It tweeted once, twice, and with a powerful flap left the tree to weave the air towards the figures.

Tama led the clueless boy to a clearing at the back of the school. Natsume wordlessly walked by the girl's side while his inquisitive golden orbs were busy trailing the row of lush green trees standing on his right. A slight breeze gently guided the dense leaves to slide over each other, creating melodious comforting tune to his ears only nature can sing. He gave his surrounding an appreciative smile as a small blue bird flew past his head in a graceful semi-arc glide.

The black-haired girl stopped. Natsume noticed that and glanced at her expectantly.

"Um, here is just fine"

The sandy-haired boy smiled a little, "Now what it is you want to tell me?"

Tama averted her gaze as a deep blush started to spread across her pale rosy cheeks. She mutely offered the bundle to the boy. Natsume observed it curiously.

It was green with golden-thread designs and appeared to be made with quite a valuable material.

He reached for it, "What is this anyway?", Natsume asked, probing the fabricated object with his eyes. It was the size of a watermelon but strangely was very light, the only clues he was able to collect as his brain worked on figuring out a list of possibillities.

The girl smiled meaningfully, "Just open it. It's a gift from me."

Now his curiosity was fueled tenfold and without any more ado his fingers dilligently started working on to undo the simple tie. What could a stranger girl possibly give to him?

"Not to be rude or anything", Natsume opened the conversation, "but I have never seen your face around here. Are you new?", he raised a brow at seeing strange strings crossing the inner part of the bundle.

Tama laughed merrily, "Not really. If I am then there's no way I can be attracted to you this much right?"

"You are attracted to me?", Natsume glanced at the girl for a second before resuming his work.

The girl gasped, "Ah no, me and my big mouth!", Tama then blushed heavily, "Um yes... since a month ago I think. But I haven't had the courage to confront you before...", Tama hid her face beneath her bangs, too embarassed to look at the golden haired boy face to face.

Meanwhile Natsume was still deep in his struggle to free the bundle, "Hmm.. What class are you from?"

"Class B"

As the last silvery string broke under the force of his fingers, he stopped abruptly. Wait a minute, there's no way he hadn't ever seen the girl if she was indeed from class B. It was his class!

Whatever word was stuck in his throat as Natsume stared wide-eyed at the woman. Tama blinked innocenty, "Ara? You finally found out? Such a shame, I really do enjoy talking to you"

In less than a second, a heavy gust of wind accompanied by blackish wispy mist rushed upwards, Natsume yelped as the force of the wind blinded him for a moment. Panicked but still couldn't see anything, he could hear that whatever it was from the bundle left the standing duo with a distinctly howling sound. The weight in his arms dissipated leaving only the piece of fabric draping limply on his hands.

"Wha-what is that?", Natsume asked in panicky, his hands were furiously rubbing away at his face to ease the strangely irritant mist out of his eyes.

A cold chuckle was heard from the woman, "Fufufu, as expected from Natsume Reiko's grandson. **You possess such spiritual power to break it with ease"**

A coldness seeped into the abruptly stunned boy's heart as he strained his eyes to observe the blurry woman, "Do-don't tell me that that thread is a-", his furiously beating heart skipped a beat at seeing the hazy blood-red lips of the woman quirked upwards in a smirk, "-sealing...", his throat lost its energy.

The ayakashi chuckled, **"What a fascinating object isn't it? To see that even a mere contact with its miasma is able to affect your sighting..."**

A sinister giggle escaped the raven-haired beauty's lips.

**"True boy"**, the girl with straight bangs murmured after a few moment, **"What you just beautifully undid is the seal of Sessho-seki, the 'Killing Stone', I sincerely thank you for that. It is a vengeful malevolent spiritual item which had been sealed sixty years ago by Natsume Reiko, at the cost of her life"**, the spirit's eyes narrowed slightly in distaste as her eyes glared at the splitting image of the said person. It was brief though, her facial feature fluidly reverted back to its nearly emotionless facade, **"But now, her own grandson, Natsume Takashi, has broken the seal of my dearest sweet little killer which had slain an entire army of his own kind and be the very perpetrator to let the history to possibly repeat itself"**

**"To see that it is her own blood who just demolished her one and only remarkable deed to the human world in her miserable pitiful life..."**, The ayakashi grinned wickedly at the horror clearly etched on Natsume's face as its eyes flashed eerie green, **"How ironic..."**

The spirit's lower body slowly dispersed to a dark swirling mist as she floated away from him

Caught off guard and out of impulse Natsume yelled out, "Wait!"

The long-haired woman peered at the peeved boy over her shoulders, not halting her advance in the slightest. She grinned evilly at him,** "Oh and have I mentioned that the stone is able to kill every human it touches? I suggest you move fast, boy"**

Natsume's eyes widened as the last wisp of the ayakashi's mist surged outwards, leaving the boy completely alone with an echoing dark chuckle in the school's empty back yard.

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(Brief discussion between Nishimura, Natsume, and Tamamozuki)

Nishimura: Ne Natsume-kun, what you did is just plain rude you know?

Natsume: Huh? What are you talking about?

Nishimura: (points a finger to Natsume) You just acted like it was nothing when a girl just confessed to you! It takes a lot for a girl to encourage herself to confess to a boy she likes you know... How cold-hearted!

Tamamozuki: Yeah! I gave you my all to try to seduce you Takashi Natsume! But you aren't affected at all!

Natsume: Wa-wait, she did say that she was attracted to me but that doesn't mean she likes me or anything right?

Nishimura: (sigh) you are impossible, that way, even if you get flocked on by girls ya'll never get one you know? Such a shame, you'll put that cute face to waste Natsume-chan!

Natsume: I told you to stop saying my face's cute! And besides, she doesn't really like me or anything, it's all a pretense!

Nishimura: Whatever, I still envy you for getting more girls than me...

A/N: Yes, Nishimura is one of my favorite characters:)

~Golden Mist Fox


	3. Chapter 2last: Fault

A/N: This short piece was supposed to go with the previous chapter but I make them to be separate chapters because I don't have time to edit it yesterday, so well, here it is! So please forgive its crappyness *laugh sheepishly*

Thank you for all the reviews:)

**Sweet Betrayal**

**Chapter 2.5: Fault**

"-so in conclusion the light we saw yesterday was a spirit ball that's been giving Rako-baasan a creep since a week ago!", Sasada exclaimed, thoroughly proud at her deduction abillity.

Taki frowned before tweeting in, "But that didn't explain why it produces a screeching sound at night. Spirit balls are normally just quiet floating round objects."

Sasada slumped in disappointment with a sigh.

Nishimura grinned at her, his head was resting on his folded arms on the table, "Just give it up, give it up Ms. President~! Admit it already, you have no talent in supernatural anylisis!"

The bespectacled girl fumed, giving the boy her famous glare.

As they set on a verbal fight, Kitamoto glanced towards the door of their class, wondering about a particular pale boy's absence during the brief time of their club meeting, _'What on earth is he doing in the toilet that takes the whole break session anyway?'_

Almost as if on cue, a golden-headed boy could be seen running swiftly before vanishing at the edge of the slightly ajar door. His already pale skin was almost white just now as his face was scrunched up in distress.

Kitamoto blinked, "Eh Natsume?"

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The bell rang. But the thought of missing his period was the last in his mind as he kept on running in the empty hallway. His eyes flicked left and right, trying to catch on the sight of something misty and black. And probably stony.

Natsume didn't even spare a glance to stray ayakashi beckoning and calling to him.

If that Sess-something stone had indeed the power to kill a person by a mere contact... Natsume gritted his teeth. The people in the school were all in danger, because of his carelessness! He needed to stop it before anyone got hurt-

His negative thinking was cut short as he heard a faint howling sound. The teen increased his pace.

He skidded around a corner and with a sharp intake of breath caught the sight of a grotesque stone-like object with dark mist swirling around it hovering above an oblivious male student.

"Watch out!"

The dark-haired teen turned his head over his shoulder, "Huh? Wh-" before his breath was violently knocked out of him by Natsume's powerful tackle. Both boys tumbled to the ground simultaneously.

The victim coughed and angrily glared at the body hovering over him, "What the heck dude?", as he glanced up, he noticed that the psycho boy who had just knocked him down out of nowhere had his hands rooted on both sides of his head, "A new technique for homo guys to pin down another male? Sorry dude it ain't wor-

"Sorry for that! I'm not looking where I'm going!", Natsume exlaimed hurriedly, glancing down to the body below him briefly and then took off without a word.

The teen gawked at the briefest of second Natsume spared him a full view of his face, before the boy was suddenly gone. He rose up with a blush on his cheeks, staring at the place where the mysteriously beautiful guy had disappeared to.

"Was that really a boy just now? How cute...", he murmured in daze before shaking his head furiously, "Wait, I did NOT just say a guy is cute! But come to think of it, looking at his face he can easily pass as a girl..."

The male student stood up, "Ah that's it! She might be a chick from the drama club disguising as a boy!", he exclaimed confidently in the silent hallway, looking very proud at his brilliant guess.

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Natsume was getting desperate now.

Sessho-seki had practically made him ran a marathon throughout the whole gigantic school's building and he was losing stamina, fast. But the good thing was almost all the students were safely seated in their class and for some reason the spiritual stone had no interest to go into one so far.

Natsume also noticed that the stone kept a pace of which he could follow, though not so easily. This clearly unsettled him, it's almost as if the stone was leading him somewhere. But he couldn't just let the stone out of his sight now.

And then, with a strangely beckoning howl, the flying stone disappeared into the ajar door of a room. The biology lab.

Natsume ceased his pursuit as his hands immediately fell to his knees, huffing heavily. His lungs were gulping the air greedily in the brief break to try to compensate the adequate amount of oxygen his lungs failed to offer during his tiring running sessions.

But this was no time to rest, Natsume lifted his head and his dilligent golden orbs confirmed that the stone had made no further move out of the lab.

He grabbed hold of a broom stick leaning near him and tiptoed towards the ajar door. With a nervous gulp, he peered a golden eye into the room.

The eye comically widened at the sight of the previous female student-turned-out-to-be-ayakashi was standing in front of the row of experiment tables. The 'Killing Stone' was hovering in the space between her cupped palms, even when she had her back on him, he still could see the sinister grin plastered on her pale face.

She was whispering to the stone in hushed voice, Natsume couldn't make out the words but he was positive that it was centering about killing people, and he was totally not going to let the evil woman execute whatever plan she had in her mind.

He gripped the makeshift weapon in his hands tighter and crouched down slightly. As the countdown he had silently in his head reached zero, he dashed forward with eyes dead set on the target, broomstick high in the air.

By the time the ayakashi seemed to notice his presence, the wooden solid was already making a hard impact on her skull. Her scream was cut short as the back of her head struck the marble table. And the force of gravity sent her tumbling helplessly to the ground.

Natsume panted from the brief adrenaline as he wide-eyed observed the ayakashi fallen form, expecting it to come back to life again. But the body didn't even twitch and her fatal wound was clearly seen from the blood pooling around the messy mass of black hair.

"Huh? I-I defeat her? That easy?", Natsume whispered in disbelief.

The 'Killing Stone' vanished into thin air with a wave of black mist, clearly indicating that its master had failed to keep pumping life to it.

The silent boy stared at a trail of red liquid making way between her eyes and down her cheek. A pang of guilt suddenly gripped his heart. It maybe true that the ayakashi was the possible cause of his grandmother's death but then again she might be lying for all he knew... _'but even so maybe I didn't need to hit her that hard'_ . Ayakashi were obviously tougher and possessed greater life-force than humans and so he used all his strength in that one strike in hope to be able to bring the female ayakashi down for a while. Then maybe he could convince her in her weakened state to promise not to use the stone to hurt anyone because she definitely wouldn't listen to him under normal circumstances.

Even so... why wasn't she waking up?

"Is she dead?", the boy whispered to particularly no one and decided to kneel down to inspect the body. He stretched his hand towards her f-

"Oh my, look at all the mess you've made..."

Natsume widened his eyes at the familiar voice before turning his body in a neck-breaking speed. A vicious feeling of dread washed over his limp body as he stared at the uniform-clothed VERY alive female. She was smiling at him like the way she did when he first met her in the toilet, only now she was sitting on a chair made of elaborated braids of dark charcoal branches, hovering a little above him with Sessho-seki dormantly swirling above her opened palm. She was currently in her fake human form of a female student called Maeda Tamamozuki, looking absolutely innocent. Her disguise was without doubt a perfect piece of work, she could easily pass as a normal student, if not for the numerous lilac fox spirits with red beady glowing orbs weaving the air around her forming a protective shell of impenetrable defence.

"Ho-how...", Natsume whispered with trembling legs, "If you are there then who..."

Tamamo-no-Mae shook her head in mock sadness, "Poor boy, you didn't need to kill him did you?"

With a cold realization Natsume turned back to the body slumping lifelessly behind him.

It was not the body of a long-haired girl he saw, it was not her blood that he looked upon, and it was not her face he stared at. His eyes widened in a horrible revelation as he finally realized who he had just mercilessly smashed dead on the skull that caused even the hard weapon to crack slightly.

There lied the body of a chocolate-haired boy, older than him which led him to the conclusion that he was a third-year student, with the fiery hue of blood red stain marring his formerly pristine white lab-coat.

_'She... used an illusion to...',_ but before he managed to contemplate what to do next, a male voice was heard at the door step.

"Kazusa-kun, please start the aeration on the B-sample of _Artemia _eggs and make sure the salinated-water is kept at thirty... percent...", the teacher's sentence was cut in his throat at the sight of a sandy-haired boy gripping a bloody broomstick. Alarmed, he took a defensive stance, but then he noticed a more disturbing and atrocious scene. The emotionless body of his student laying near the mysterious boy's feet.

His files dropped to the floor in a noisy display of shock.

Natsume wide-eyed stared at the petrified elder man as his grip on the broom finally loosen. The sound of wood clattering to the floor was the only thing breaking the thick silence manifesting between both stunned humans.

Tamamo-no-Mae only chuckled coldly before her form slowly broke into tiny pieces of black dust before vanishing gradually, leaving absolutely no trace.

**"Kukuku, I'm looking forward to our next encounter, Takashi Natsume... Thank you for sparing me quite an amusing performance, I've had a looot of fun...", **the woman's evil cackle of laughter echoed on the bloody scene as a scream of terror penetrated the very room, no doubt alerting other teachers and students present in the vicinity.

Natsume could only do nothing other than standing there, looking very much like a deer caught in the headlight.

Now what would happen to him?

.

.

.

Nishimura: Ha! Now look at that! What a naughty boy you are Natsume-chan~ Already eager to seduce guys with your cute look aren't ya? *giggling while slapping Natsume's back repeatedly*

Natsume: *blushes red* Wha- it's not like that! He is the one at fault for mistaking me as a girl!

Nishimura: *shrug* Well it won't happen in the first place if you didn't attack him first~

Natsume: I told you it's not like that!

+conclusion: Seducing guys is an effortless work for Natsume.

A/N: Tamamo-no-Mae and Sessho-seki are actual Japanese legends, their connections to each other and to Reiko will be revealed as the story goes on.

~Golden Mist Fox

Please Review dear readers~ tell me your thoughts and opinions on this fic...


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